Sounds like what Ladyscarletthawk said, dryer is probably too close to the skin. You want to make the hair flatten out in a circle but not have the edges of the circle curl back in. Also wait till one area is dry and slowly move to the next.

hmm I'm not holding it super close. I hold it so that the hair blows down, or sometimes up depending on what part of the body. It's hard to describe but the strands tend to whip around in a circle and twist making a bunch of little knots everywhere. Also to me sometimes the hair doesn't feel nice ..you know when you ride in a topless car and your hair blows in the wind. Gives a hair a weird sorta texture. Maybe it's the shampoo..I'm using a generic shampoo and conditioner with the CC rinse. I ran out of most of my CC sample products.

Depending on the length of the hair, sometimes you have to have the dryer nozzle over 18 inches away. If the hair is whipping around like that, it still sounds too close. Drying technique is super important with poodles. Otherwise you end up with a mess.

If the hair is whipping then too close or too far away. Take off the "nozzle" & just use the hose with the wide diameter & you will have to play with the distance. Do you ha e a "flat" nozzle? I love mine & tend not to get whip knots.

I have no idea what the "correct" way is to dry a poodle. However, I learned to use a force dryer years ago blow drying show cattle (which have hair in excess of 4 inches long on a good calf), and that's the same technique I use for my poodles. Unfortunately, I was unable to find a good video online, so I will try to explain.

I hold the nozzle close to the skin, laying at about a 30 degree angle into the hair, facing toward the head. This causes the hair to all be blown in the same direction (instead of in a circle) and pretty much eliminates "whipping" and tangles. I move the nozzle opposite the direction the air is blowing. If you move it in the same direction you are blowing the hair, it will cause tangles. I work on a small section at a time, for example the neck, moving the nozzle from ear to shoulder, blowing forward toward the head, then once I get to the shoulder I pick the nozzle up away from the dog and move it back to the ear and start again. Once that section is dry, I move to the shoulder area, same concept.

Like I said, I have no idea if this is "proper" but it works extremely well for me. And if you ever decide to blow dry show cattle, you will have a leg up on the competition

I Blast off fast in an area- just to get the main water off- then start using the hold til dry technique below:
Use the high velocity dry is to hold it so that the hair blows away in a circle. IF the hair turns back in at the ends it's too close to the dog/skin. move it back an inch or so. Hold it on the spot until it the hair dries then slowly move over to a new spot- i use a brush at the same time with my other hand to brush out the circle tohelp get straighter hair.

this pic shows what i mean- this technique gets the hair dry from the skin out- and helps prevent twisting and matting during drying also making sure it dries completely in that area (i work maybe a 4x4 area at a time) before moving on will help prevent twists i find those happen when the base is dry but the ends are still wet

If I hold the nozzle too close to my Havanese, his hair is around 4 inches or more, it will cause whiplash. You can try the metro on low with the pointy nozzle but hold the nozzle further away. The best way to dry is with a stand dryer. Most of the time I don't have much time to use the stand dryer on him. I use the metro on high with the nozzle, holding it further away, getting about 90% dry. Then take the nozzle off and hold it closer to to dry, then finish with the stand dryer as I brush. Brushing with the stand dryer will take away the windblown look.